Policies

LESSONS

At the Riding School, we offer weekly group lessons of 3 to 5 riders which last for one hour. Horses are already groomed and tacked up for you when you arrive for your lesson. Lessons are arranged not only to fit your schedule, but to match each rider with an appropriate animal and to place your rider in with others of similar age and experience. Careful placement will ensure success for your rider(s). Lessons are scheduled and billed each calendar month and are based on 4 lessons per month. One lesson a week is $195 each month. Two lessons a week is $370 per month. (this may be shared between 2 family members).Three lessons a week is $555.00 per month. If payment is not received by the 10th of the month, a $15 late fee is added to the tuition for that month. *note: these prices change if you pay via PayPal. Please see 'Payment' for more info on PayPal pricing vs cash/check pricing** If your lesson day has 5 occurrences in any month, on the fifth week, your rider will not have a regularly scheduled lesson. We will reserve those days to schedule makeups and to prevent over taxing our horses. We are closed certain holidays throughout the year.



REQUIRED ATTIRE

Riders shall come to lessons in the below required attire:

  • ASTM approved horse riding helmet (NO bike helmets).
  • Hard soled shoes that come over the ankle with a small heel.
  • Long pants, NO shorts.
  • Short sleeves (in the summer). NO spaghetti string tops.
  • Long hair is to be tied back.
  • Gloves are recommended in cold weather.



HELMETS

Although we provide helmets for new students to borrow, we highly recommend purchasing a riding approved helmet for your child when they start taking riding lessons. Contact the barn office if you need to know where to purchase an appropriate helmet.



LESSON DAY

Please ensure your rider has a water bottle at each lesson.

Allow an hour and a half for your lesson. Group lessons last for one hour. Please arrive for your lesson 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the lesson. Allow at least 15 minutes after the scheduled completion of the lesson to take care of the horse/pony.

We already have the horses groomed and tacked up for each student when they arrive. The students mount their horse and get their stirrups adjusted with the 15 minutes they arrive before their scheduled lesson time.



WEATHER CANCELLATIONS

If we decide to cancel lessons due to weather conditions we will send a text message. You must return our text for a make-up within a week. We save the time and day that we left in the message for you until you return the text message, so if a day and time does not work for you, we need to be able to open it up for someone else. We really appreciate your help with this.



CANCELLATIONS / MAKE-UPS

We require at least 24 hours notice if you are going to cancel your lesson. You must cancel by a text sent to the barn cell phone or by e-mail. If you cancel your lesson with less than 24 hours notice for any reason we will not be able to schedule a make up lesson. When you cancel a lesson, you have 1 week to re-schedule a makeup, otherwise the lesson is forfeited. The list of pending makeup lessons gets too long if we do not stick to this policy.

Please also see Weather Cancellations below.



SAFETY

To keep the students, families, and horses safe we ask everyone follow these safety rules:

  • Please do not run, yell, or throw rocks around the horses or barn area.

  • Do not chew gum while riding.

  • Please do not enter the barn or horses stalls without the supervision of an instructor.

  • Do not mount your horse without the presence of an instructor.

  • Do not feed the horses with their bridles on or without seeking permission from an instructor.

  • Do not wear open toed shoes in the barn area.



PAYMENT

● Tuition is due no later than the 1st of the month. Payments received after the 10th of each month are considered late and will incur a $15.00 late fee. ● We take PayPal, cash, or check- no cards. ● Checks may be made out to “JREC”. Paying via cash or check: 1 lesson / week: $195.00 2 lessons / week: $370.00 3 lessons / week: $555.00 Paying via PayPal (JRRSMANAGER@gmail.com): 1 lesson / week: $205.00 2 lessons / week: $385.00 3 lessons / week: $575.00 Tuition is considered LATE after the 10th of each month, regardless if you have been to the barn before the 10th or not. If you pay your tuition after the 10th of the month a $15.00 late fee needs to be included in the amount. Two possible options to avoid the late fee are to use your banks Automatic Bill Pay system to mail us a check at the beginning of the month or to use PayPal with the added fees included. There is also a gold mailbox outside the office where payment can be left if no one is at the barn, and you may also mail in your payment if you know that you will not be at the barn before the 10th of the month to: 414 Huguenot Trail Midlothian, VA 23113



HOLIDAYS

The School is closed on the following dates: ● New Year's Day ● Easter Sunday ● July 4th ● Memorial Day ● Labor Day ● Thanksgiving Day ● Christmas Eve ● Christmas Day Some of these holidays will be rescheduled.



EQUINE RELEASE FORM

Every student at The Riding School must have a completed and signed Equine Release Form on file. Download the form below and return the completed form to the Riding School Manager.



© 2018 by The Riding School at James River Equestrian Center